Close Your Eyes
by Bloody Symphony
Summary: Tragedy has struck Konoha once more. The Kazekage is sending teams of shinobi to give aid to the village in any way they can, his brother included. Unexpected circumstances begin to weigh on Kankuro's mind, overwhelming him in ways he never thought he wanted.
1. Prologue

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Agony. That's all he felt. His couldn't even lift his eyelids.

Much like the rest of his body, his mind refused to cooperate. The only sound that came to his sensitive ears was a light dripping from nearby.

'_Where am I? What happened?'_

Suddenly, elusive visions – or maybe memories – came to the forefront of his mind. A booming roar of sound; bright light; screams cut short.

Interrupting his thoughts, a tremor sounded through the earth, causing white burning pain to travel through his torso, and a few small flecks of dust and debris to fall to the ground nearby. Though emotions travelled through his mind a mile a minute, there was one that stood out from the rest that was vaguely familiar.

'_What is this feeling?_' he asked to himself, sure he'd felt it before on at least a few occasions. Despite feeling like his thoughts were swimming in water, the answer came to him.

'_This is fear_', he concluded, as his mind faded swiftly into unconsciousness once more.

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><p><strong>Hi. <strong>

**So, this is my first story on this site. I've been reading on fanfiction a lot for the last few years, but never got around to writing anything of my own, despite how much I thought about it.  
>I just thought I'd give you some warnings now, so I don't have to again. <strong>

**So. Yes, this is a slash. I love the Naruto franchise, but one pairing I've always loved was Kankuro and Kiba, and frankly, there's just not enough of it, as far as I'm concerned. So, I thought, 'screw it, I'll do it myself.' Now we just have to see how this turns out.**

**As for the rating, I'm keeping at at T just now. This is mainly because, if I'm honest, I don't know exactly where I'm going with this. I have a general outline in mind, but I haven't thought through all the details yet. Problem is, I'm always changing my mind. I see new things, I decide to change something. I just sit there and think for a bit, I decide to change something. Listen to a song, I decide to change something. It's a problem I'm always having with my writing. I read through stuff I've written already, and I change just about everything.  
>I guess, in that respect, posting it chapter by chapter on here will be good for me. If people read it, I won't be inclined to change it.<strong>

**I'm totally open to constructive criticism. So, have at it.**

**Also, I'm British. Scottish, to be exact. I won't be trying to use any colloquial language, but if I do, let me know. Sometimes I do it by accident.**

**I suppose I should put this here, too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**


	2. Chapter 1

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Gliding through the trees of Fire Country wasn't a new experience, but it was still unusual for the Jounin. Focussed on keeping his feet firmly attached to the rain-soaked branches as he rushed through the dense foliage, Kankuro, along with his team mates, rushed to follow his brother – the Kazekage's – request.

'_Help them_,' he had told them. There was no authority in his voice when he had said that, but something more akin to desperation and pain.

News of the attack on Konoha travelled fast and hit hard. Gaara, of course, immediately jumped to the aid of his best friend's village; Suna's ally. No one knew who was responsible. The Akatsuki, defeated over three years prior in the fourth great ninja war, were possible candidates; however, they had been out of commission ever since. There were no signs of any activity that could be concluded to be helpful to their ultimate goals in any way. Though this did not rule them out as suspects, it did make it far more unlikely.

'_I can't believe this has happened to them again_,' Kankuro thought grimly, rainwater soaking through his clothes, and down his face. '_Only this time, Pein isn't around to pull everyone back from their untimely deaths_'. The young Jounin had seen plenty of death and destruction in his twenty-three years, but he still wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived at their destination. He had friends and acquaintances in the Leaf, and despite his experience, he still silently prayed that nothing had happened to them.

"Captain, look!" Coming to a halt alongside his team mates, Kankuro shook his head slightly, forcing his mind back into reality, and glanced up. Smoke rose from below the treeline up ahead. It had been three days since the attack, but the village still burned despite the torrential downpour. He shuddered, and turned his head towards his team,

"Let's hurry," he ordered, "we're almost there."

* * *

><p>As they stood in the entrance to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, they could do nothing but stare in abject horror upon seeing the absolute destruction that had been wrought – homes and businesses crumbled to the ground; craters, small and large, lined a ground that was littered with debris, along with the citizens of Konoha combing through the wreckage for the bodies of their fallen, praying that they would find them alive.<p>

After a few seconds, two ANBU landed a few feet in front of them, one wearing the mask of a weasel, the other an eagle. They squared up their shoulders, clearly trying to look less exhausted than they were, and addressed them, "State your business. As you can plainly see, the village is not in any state to accommodate visitors at this time."

"I know," Kankuro replied, holding a scroll out to the ANBU who had spoken, "We're from Sand. The Kazekage sent us to provide any aid we can," he paused, glancing around at the devastation once again. He placed a hand to his forehead and sighed, "It sure looks like you need it, this is worse than anything I could have imagined - there are more teams following behind."

The ANBU opened the scroll and quickly glanced over it, double checking the signature at the bottom. His shoulders sagged slightly as he finished, and he handed it back to the puppet master. "Thank you," he said quietly, his voice betraying his emotions, "We're sorry for the questioning, but with all that's happened, we're struggling to find trust in anyone – Hell, I didn't even see your hitai-ates – I hope you will accept our apologies, Sand ninja."

"Please, call me Kankuro; and there's no reason to apologise, I understand your suspicion entirely," he replied quickly, bowing his head slightly, "All the teams following behind us will also have scrolls, so feel free to check them all before allowing them entry to your village." The two ANBU bowed their heads in response, and stepped aside, "We have heard of you, Kankuro of the Sand; we should have recognised you."

Kankuro smiled slightly in amusement, "Yeah," he replied, motioning to his painted face, "You'd think this would have given me away." He started forward, motioning for his teammates to follow him. He got about ten feet away when he hesitated. Turning his head back towards the two ANBU, he quietly spoke, "Thank you, and I'm sorry for your loss."

Wandering through the wreckage, Kankuro looked for any figure of authority. Soon, he spotted a group of people trying to shift a large boulder off the leg of an unconscious woman who was having her vitals checked by medic-nin. Kankuro and his team rushed forward to help. The extra strength shifted the boulder easily, and immediately medics were surrounding the woman, shifting her onto a stretcher and carrying her away.

Someone spoke next to him, "Thanks for that." Kankuro turned, facing a fatigued looking Jounin. "That's okay, you looked like you could use the help," he replied solemnly. "I wonder, could you tell me where I could find the Hokage? We're from Suna; we've been ordered to provide aid on the behalf of the Kazekage."  
>"That's a relief to hear," the Jounin replied, clearly grateful for any and all assistance, "the Hokage should be in the infirmary. A lot of the hospital was damaged, but there's thankfully a rather large part of it that is structurally sound, so a temporary infirmary has been added onto that part to accommodate the injured until repairs can be made," he stated, looking thankful for that small relief, "Lady Hokage should be there treating patients. Just follow the medics who took that woman away, they'll lead you right there."<p>

Kankuro nodded his thanks, and turned to follow his team, who had already begun to follow the route the stretcher had gone.

It took a while to reach the hospital through the debris, but the screams of the many injured being carried through the entryway was indication of their arrival. Kankuro motioned his team to his side, "Stay out here for now; this place is crowded enough as it is." Stepping aside to allow a patient-laden stretcher past first, he slipped through the entrance, glancing around at his surroundings. There were people everywhere – on beds, on stretchers, on blankets on the floor. There was barely enough room for all of the injured. Medic-nin bustled around quickly and efficiently, attempting to judge who was in need of the most help. It was chaos. Cries of pain and anguish, and the heavy stench of blood filled the air.

Someone bumped past him. A particularly harassed looking nurse turned towards him, stress evident in her features, "Watch where you're standing! What are you doing in here, anyway? Authorised personnel and patients only!"  
>"I'm sorry, I just need to," Kankuro managed to stutter out before he was interrupted.<br>"-We're in the middle of a crisis here, and we have too much to do with uninjured ninja standing around taking up space, now get out of here! Well? Go on!"  
>Out of nowhere, someone placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. A head of pink hair was visible from behind her shoulder – Kankuro released a sigh of relief. As the woman turned, Sakura's face became visible, stern but patient.<br>"It's okay, Misa. Kankuro here is the Kazekage's brother; I'm sure he's here to see Lady Tsunade?" She turned her face to him questioningly.  
>"Yes, I have a message for the Hokage. I'm sorry for getting in the way, Misa," he stated, nodding his head to the flustered nurse.<br>"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Miss Sakura." She bowed slightly, and moved off again.

"Thanks, Sakura," Kankuro sighed, "I thought she was going to bite my head off."  
>The pink haired woman laughed lightly, "She probably would have. Everyone's a bit wound up, I'm sure you understand."<br>"Absolutely," he agreed quietly.  
>"Well, Milady's just over this way, if you'll follow me," She motioned for him to follow her, heading towards where the temporary structure met the hospital walls.<br>"Lady Tsunade's had a rough few days, I'm sure you can imagine," she said, turning her head to him as they walked.  
>"I can imagine, but I still can't quite believe it," he replied, still gazing around, horrified at the sheer number of patients, "It must have been horrible."<br>"It's been hell," she answered solemnly, "So many good people have been lost, or injured, and," she hesitated, a pained look came over her features, "and we haven't even found everyone yet."

Her voice cracked slightly as she said it. '_Oh no_,' he thought to himself, picturing the Rookie Nine in his head. '_It's got to be one of them. One of them is missing in the wreckage_,' he told himself, wondering who it could be.

"Well, here we are," Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts, "She's just through this door. Knock before you enter; she's on a break right now, unless a more serious case comes in."  
>Kankuro placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Thanks, Sakura. I'm sure they're fine, whoever it is you're looking for," he told her, in a voice he hoped was reassuring.<br>"Thank you, Kankuro, that means a lot," she said, smiling, before disappearing back into the bustle.

Kankuro took a deep breath before knocking semi-forcefully on the door. Instead of hearing permission to enter, as he'd expected, the door opened before him, revealing Shizune. The Hokage's aid gave him a tired smile, and stepped aside to allow him entry.

"Kankuro," he heard from the other side of the room, "I have to say, it's a relief to see Sand ninja here; to help, I presume."  
>He gave a low bow to the woman sitting at the desk, his face not giving away his surprise at how much older she looked from usual.<br>"We got here as fast as we could, Lady Hokage," he replied, "My team was sent ahead; other are following a few hours behind us."  
>He walked over to the desk and handed the scroll to her. Aged hands unrolled it and laid it on the desk.<br>"Oh my," she said, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, "your brother is certainly being overly generous, sending this many of his ninja to aid us."  
>Kankuro tilted his head slightly, "He doesn't see it that way, Milady. He sees it as just helping out friends," he stated with a small smile.<br>The older woman smirked slightly, crossing her fingers neatly under her chin, "Indeed."

"What is it that we can do to help, Lady Hokage?" he prompted, steering the conversation back on track.  
>"Ah, yes," she said, her smile fading, "Well, our priority right now is finding those that are trapped under the rubble, dead or alive," she added with a wince, "our only problem is, this downpour has been non-stop for the last week, so tracking with nin-dogs is next to useless, and besides that many of our ninja that are unsurpassed in tracking are out of commission due to injury, or worse."<br>"That is a problem," he replied, thoughtfully. "What about the Aburame clan?" he thought out loud, remembering the creepy guy in the Rookie Nine.  
>"As I said, injured or worse," she answered sadly, "the Aburame compound was one of the many clan compounds directly targeted. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.<p>

"They targeted all of the major clans, but the most damage was done to the ones with bloodline limits and talented tracking abilities. The Hyuuga clan, the Aburame clan, even the Inuzuka compound was attacked, even though their tracking is made infinitely harder with this damned rain!" Tsunade stood up and started pacing, continuing her rant.

"So many of my best ninja are injured or dead. Luckily, some were away on a long-term mission when the attack happened, but we've heard no word from them, and we could really use their help right now. Damn Kakashi, always late for everything."

Kankuro lifted his head slightly, "Kakashi's not here?"

"No," she replied, "He, Naruto and Sasuke are away for a long-term mission in Rain country; which is a shame, because I could really use all of their help in this situation. Though, I suppose I should be happy they weren't here to get injured during the attack." She added, giving herself some slight relief in the dire situation. Kankuro heaved a sigh, happy he could tell the Kazekage that his best friend was alright.

"Well, I guess I should go get my team and we can get started," he stated, turning to leave. He hesitated. "I hate to ask, but Sakura mentioned someone that hasn't been found; it sounded like she was referring to someone specific, like a friend."  
>"Yes, what about it?" she replied.<br>"Well, I just thought that if it's one of Sakura's friends, then chances are that I know them too…" he trailed off, leaving the request unfinished.  
>Tsunade sighed in a defeated manner. She looked Kankuro in the eyes and said, "Well, there's many people missing that she'll know, but I can only assume that in this instance, she was referring to Kiba Inuzuka," she stated solemnly. Kankuro's eyes widened, his heart jumping to his throat hearing that name.<br>"K-Kiba?" he stuttered, trying to regain his composure.  
>"Yes," she replied, a deep frown lines appearing between her eyes, "Last anyone saw him he was heading from the Inuzuka compound towards Ichiraku's to meet with his teammates, about twenty minutes before the explosions started. He's not been seen since.<p>

"Most of the Inuzuka clan are injured, but those that aren't have tried tracking him down, but haven't been able to smell a single thing because of the rain. Tsume, his mother, is stuck in the recovery sector of the infirmary with two broken legs, and she's still giving everyone hell about finding her son," she sighed unhappily, "Not that I blame her. Her home is destroyed, her clan mostly injured, her daughter's still unconscious after a blow to the head, and her son has been missing in the rubble of a broken village for the last three days. I would be upset as well."  
>Kankuro hummed in agreement, still in shock.<br>"Well, I'll leave you to have your rest, Lady Tsunade," he stated quickly, bowing before turning to leave, "You need to keep up your strength."  
>He nodded quietly to Shizune on his way out, closing the door behind him.<p>

'_Kiba_,' he thought miserably, '_I can't believe that feisty pup is the one that's missing._' He meandered through the patients and medics to find his team.


	3. Chapter 2

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Following his departure from the makeshift hospital extension, he ordered his team to help wherever they could; clearing the rubble and finding and releasing the trapped civilians of Konoha were top priority, dead or alive. With that, his teammates swiftly walked in different directions through the toppled buildings. Heaving a sigh, Kankuro glanced around before choosing a direction. As he walked, he tried to gauge which of the groups around him could use another helping hand. So far, there were quite large groups that seemed to be handling their tasks with relative ease.

In his peripheral vision, he suddenly spotted a flash of white. Twisting his head towards it, he saw a huge white dog weaving his way quickly through the rubble, tail between its legs and nose practically attached to the ground. Kankuro quickly realised that he knew this dog, despite the bandages wrapped snugly around his torso and upper hind legs. The person who followed after the dog confirmed his observation.

"Akamaru!" Hinata cried out, stumbling over loose bricks and falling forward, avoiding landing on a heavily bandaged arm, as she tried to catch up to the desperate dog, "we've already checked this way three times already, Akamaru!" It had been years since he'd seen the girl – or any of their group, really. Her hair had grown out a bit again, though still shorter than it was when she was a girl. From the sounds of it, she'd managed to control that nervous stutter, though her voice was still rather quiet. Her Hyuuga clan eyes were still as piercing as always, but the Sand sibling couldn't sense much chakra from the tired looking girl.

"Doesn't look like he really cares, does it?" Kankuro asked rhetorically, smiling kindly as he walked forward to hold his hand out to the fallen girl, "his master's missing; I'm sure he'll check a dozen times or more before he's sure." Her cheeks reddened with an embarrassed blush as she took the Sand-nin's gloved hand, and stood up with a sad smile,  
>"Thanks, Kankuro. I know he doesn't care, but it just seems a bit hopeless to keep looking here," she said quietly as she brushed dirt off herself, "I don't think he wants to admit that his nose just isn't going to do any good with all this rain."<br>Tears welled up in her eyes as she glanced around at all the destroyed buildings, a look of hopelessness etched into her rain-drenched features.

"Hey, now," Kankuro said, putting one arm around the disheartened kunoichi's shoulders, "It won't do you any good to be so negative. Kiba's strong – if anyone can get through something like this, it's him."  
>As water finally spilled from her eyes, mixing with the rain already running down her pale face, she spoke, her voice broken by quiet sobs, "I don't see how he could. It's been almost four days!" she started weeping noiselessly, covering her eyes with her hands.<br>The sand-nin's eyes hardened, and he turned to face the girl, placing his hands firmly on both of her shoulders,

"Look at me, Hinata," his voice stern. She ignored him, so he jolted her shoulders lightly, "I said look at me."  
>She tilted her head up, her eyes becoming visible as she lowered her fingers slightly, still hiding the majority of her face with lightly fisted hands. She quavered slightly at Kankuro's angry stare,<br>"You have to have more faith in your teammate; your friend. He needs you to not give up on him. You don't even know that he's dead, but you're already acting like you're looking for a corpse."  
>Hinata's breath stuttered in her throat as he said this. He wasn't actively trying to be harsh, but maybe some tough love would do the girl some good.<p>

"Kankuro is right, Hinata," a low voice said from the sand-nin's back. He spun around, coming face to face with the third member of Team Kurenai, "we can't give up on Kiba – or else who would help Akamaru rescue him when he finds him?"  
>"Oh, Shino," the kunoichi cried out lightly, as she ran around the sand-nin and into her teammates awkward embrace, "I'm sorry, but it just seems so hopeless!"<p>

From first appearances, the bug shinobi looked relatively unharmed, apart from a small bandage stuck to his forehead, but the sand-nin knew better; He could sense almost no chakra from the young man, just like his teammate, and it was obvious he was hiding how much pain he was in, and how exhausted he was, behind his expression, as well as his dwarfing clothes. He stood uncomfortably as his teammate wept rivers of tears into his chest, patting her back lightly. Kankuro was about to cut in before the socially awkward man could utter out a 'there, there' when he was beaten to the punch by a loud, rumbling howl echoing through the destroyed buildings, and over the busy sounds of the other civilians around them. All three shinobi whipped their heads in the direction of the sound with a start, immediately rushing in the direction of the distraught sounds.

When did it stop raining?

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><p>The three ninja skidded to a halt, met with the sight of the huge dog scratching away at the debris-riddled road by more foundations of destroyed buildings. His howls had diminished to desperate whines as he alternated between scratching at the rock and sniffing around the area again. The ground the dog seemed interested in looked sunken in; a hole in the road, not too large, filled in with the remnants of the surrounding buildings.<p>

"Is there anything below this section of road?" Kankuro asked the two natives, pointing to where the dog was clawing away frantically. Both lowered their heads marginally at the question, thinking it over. Seconds later, Shino's snapped up, glancing quickly at the surrounding buildings. His head stopped at the large building a few dozen metres up the road. He pointed at it,  
>"The library," he said, as urgently as Shino's monotoned voice could be, "it has archives in a basement that stretches at least a block away from the library wall itself."<p>

Before the bug ninja had even finished his sentence, Kankuro was moving towards the devastated building, motioning with his hand for the others to follow behind. As he arrived at the entrance, where the doorway stood, surrounded by crumbling walls, he turned to see that Akamaru still hadn't left his previous spot. With a sharp whistle, he gained the dogs attention, "We can get down to Kiba this way, Akamaru."  
>The dog immediately perked his ears up at the sound of his master's name, bounding forward to Kankuro's side. The sand-nin glanced at the door in front of them, stunned that it had remained in its frame through the ordeal. He reached out his hand to grasp the handle, and the door fell inward, practically disintegrating as it hit the ground, leaving its handle in Kankuro's grasp. '<em>Well,<em>' he thought, a humourless smirk quirking at his mouth as he dropped the useless hunk of metal to the ground, '_so much for that._'  
>Stepping over the remains of the door, he glanced around the desolate building. What remained of the walls was charred black, and ashes of the books and scrolls that once resided here shifted through the room as a draught easily picked them up from where they rested. The air was close in the building; despite all the holes in the walls and ceilings; it was almost suffocating. The building seemed to swallow up any residual sound from the bustle of people outside, leaving them in an almost deafening silence. Dust and small stone particles were falling lightly from the frail remnants of the ceiling overhead, presumably from the impact of the door falling inwards.<p>

"Move slowly and quietly," Kankuro murmured, turning his head to his companions, "we don't want the building to cave in on us." They nodded slowly in agreement, Hinata glancing apprehensively at the unstable structure around them. Kankuro opened his mouth to ask where to go next, but Shino spoke up before he could, "The stairwell that leads to the basement is through the door about twenty feet to your left," he stated, pointing a finger at a heavy looking door in the corner of the room. The door had been locked, but the heat had warped it in its frame, causing the edges to shrink away from the jamb. The shrinkage made the deadlock visible, and therefore easier to break, as Kankuro pulled out a kunai and rammed it into the front of the damaged lock. The metal gave away easily, weakened by the heat damage it had endured, and the door swung inward, squint on its hinges, and letting forth a creak that broke the almost deafening stillness of the room. Stepping forward lightly, the three shinobi looked uneasily down the solid stone staircase, into the inky darkness below. The three were suddenly pushed aside by the huge white mass that was Akamaru, as he trotted determinedly down the stairwell, his nose twitching as he tried to sense even the smallest iota of his master's presence.

With renewed determination, the three nin followed the hound down into the depths of the library, their hands touching the wall to their left to keep on track. Shino broke the silence from where he walked carefully behind his teammate, "there should be lanterns on a table somewhere near the bottom of the stairs; they kept them for people who came at night, or those who wanted to access further sections of the archives," he said, putting out his free arm to grip Hinata's as she stumbled slightly on an uneven step, "it's too time consuming to light and extinguish all the lamps in the archives, so a lot of them are only lit as needed."  
>Kankuro hummed his acknowledgement, concentrating on trying not to fall, as he thought about how that was probably the most he'd ever heard the bug-nin say in one go. A few steps later, and he reached the bottom. Reaching his hands forward to determine his new surroundings, something wet touched one of his hands, causing him to jump slightly, before feeling the snuffling breath of the nin-dog against his palm. He chuckled lightly, shifting the hand to the dog's ears, scratching behind them lightly, rewarding the dog for waiting for them. Akamaru gripped Kankuro's sleeve lightly with his teeth, pulling the sand-nin carefully to the side. He softly told the others to stay where they were for a minute, before allowing the dog to drag him. One arm occupied in the jaws of the gentle giant, Kankuro's other arm was thrust out in front of him at waist height, trying to keep him from bumping into anything. Abruptly, his hand came into contact with a wooden object that he quickly surmised to be a table. Reaching out, blindly shifting his hands over the table, he felt a small wooden stick. Feeling over the small object, he felt the rounded head, and smiled to himself, quickly striking it against the table.<p>

The sudden light, regardless of how small, caused Kankuro to wince slightly. He quickly adjusted, scanning his eyes quickly over the table, seeing four lanterns lined up against the wall. Hastily lighting one, he turned to his companions, motioning them over, ignoring their immediate surroundings for the moment.  
>They made their way over, Hinata immediately going to Akamaru and hugging his head, praising him for his help. Lighting two more lanterns, Kankuro handed one to each of the others, picking up his own in the process. He turned to the huge dog, a look of grim determination on his face as he spoke, "Time to find your master, boy."<p>

* * *

><p>As the four figures moved slowly between the darkened shelves, they tied to gauge the damage done to the room. Surprisingly, it didn't look too bad. The majority of the shelves, and the important and historical documents that rested on them, were relatively unharmed, if covered in quite a bit of debris and dirt. There were, however, some places that they passed where small parts of the ceiling had clearly caved in, and been filled again with debris, presumably during the main attack - much like the one Akamaru had been howling over outside.<br>As they made their way closer to where they estimated their cave-in was, Akamaru's head and ears perked up, his nose twitching in the dank air. With a whining bark, he suddenly bounded off towards the darkness, veering off to the left; the others followed the dog, trying to keep him within the circle of light their lanterns created. They saw him turn right at a skewed bookshelf, a pile of rock and debris slightly visible through the shelves, and followed quickly. What they found around the corner had mixed feelings sweeping through all three shinobi. The most prevalent, though, were relief and fear.

Before them lay their friend, his faithful dog crouched on the floor beside him snuffling at his hair and lightly licked his face. The young man looked so still, as he lay on his back over the remains of whatever he had landed on. Kankuro moved forward slowly, each step sounding like an earthquake through his head, his heart pounding in his throat. A large metal pole, probably from the bookshelf he had landed on, had impaled the dog-nin through his left side. A large dark stain was barely visible on the dark fabric of his jacket both on his torso, and his right arm, which was trapped beneath what looked like a rather large chunk of a building. In addition, part of his trousers missing from what looked like fire damage, revealing reddened and blistering skin; on closer inspection, it was clear that some of the Inuzuka's clothes had melted onto the flesh. Kankuro's breathing came to a stop the same time as his feet did, as he reached Kiba's side, and knelt next to the fallen shinobi, watching his chest with baited breath.

It rose and fell, in small movements. The Sand shinobi released a sigh, as he turned his head, "He's breathing," he told the young man's comrades, with more relief in his voice than he knew he had. Shino and Hinata immediately moved forward, the bug ninja moving to his fallen friend's head, and lightly placing his fingers to the boy's throat. He frowned slightly, moving his fingers to the wrist.

"His pulse is very weak," he stated, still frowning,"and his breathing's uneven. He needs immediate medical attention." The quiet man turned to his teammate, "Hinata, I need you to go and tell Lady Tsunade; we need her to send a medic-nin to decide whether or not it's safe to move him in his condition."  
>Kankuro hummed in agreement, a frustrated grimace passing over his features. The metal beam piercing the dog-nin's side could be the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. Then there was the problem of the man's trapped arm.<p>

The young woman nodded quickly, holding her lantern out as she tried to rush back through the darkness without bumping into anything. The two remaining shinobi set out to see if there was any easy way to release Kiba without further harming him, while double checking the man's pulse every few minutes. Akamaru continued to lie by his master, his worried whimpers echoing every so often through the large room.

Within about ten minutes, multiple sets of footsteps were heard through the darkness, and the two young men glanced up to see lantern light heading there way. In seconds, the Hokage herself was in their presence, Sakura, Hinata and two Jounin carrying a stretcher following quickly behind her. Sakura's gasp resonated through the room, as she covered her mouth, tears pricking at her eyes. The Hokage's expression only changed for an instant, a slight glimmer of anguish reached only her eyes, before her concentrated frown quickly took its place once again. Kankuro and Shino moved slightly aside as she moved forward towards the heavily injured boy, kneeling at his side. The blonde woman examined the wounds, and then looked under the boy's torso to look at the metal that had pierced it. She motioned silently to Sakura, and the pink-haired kunoichi swiftly wiped the tears from her eyes, and replaced them with a look of determination as she moved to her mentor's side.

Tsunade glanced at her student, "We need to be quick about this," she stated grimly, "not only is there a possibility of bleeding out, but he's already been down here for three days; he needs to be attended to immediately," she paused, glancing at the surroundings briefly, before continuing, "but we can't do that here." She turned to the other shinobi present, "I'm going to need all of you for this to work."

She quickly outlined her plan. The two Jounin would help Tsunade lift the debris away from Kiba's arm. As they were doing this, Kankuro would have to hold Kiba steady, while Shino tried to keep the metal bar from shifting as well - even the slightest move in the wrong direction could cause fatal damage to the dog-nin. They would have to continue to do this as they lifted the injured man onto the stretcher, and then for the entire walk to the hospital, all while hoping that Kiba didn't wake up and try to move. Kankuro also suggested that he could further steady the stretcher with his chakra strings. Sakura would be keeping a constant watch on the young man's pulse and breathing while the Hokage would be attempting to stop the bleeding on his arm slightly as they walked. Hinata would walk ahead, lighting the way out of the chamber, and clearing the path of civilians and any other obstacles for the group to walk through unhindered.

There was a heavy silence after they were given their orders. Tsunade scowled at them, "Understood?" she barked lightly. The six shinobi standing before her nodded in unison, preparing themselves for a long and difficult trip. Shino and Kankuro both knelt by Kiba's side, the sand-nin holding the boy's torso still, as gently as he could, and Shino kept a firm grasp on the red-tinted bar that had his friend pinned, in case either shifted when the debris was moved; and move he did. The moment the large mass was shifted, Kiba took in a huge gasp of air, his body thrashing as much as it could in response to the pain. Kankuro held him down, as much as he could without further injuring him, trying to make Shino's job that much easier. As soon as the large rock was put to the side, he settled slightly, a pained expression marring his blood and dirt-spattered features. '_Don't get too comfortable, pup,_' the sand-nin thought grimly, '_it's not over yet._'

* * *

><p>It took what felt like forever. Every so often, Kiba would partially regain consciousness, and try to move again, and every time they'd have to stop walking so Kankuro could try to calm him down some. Akamaru walked at his master's side the entire way, and would start licking his uninjured hand lightly in an attempt to calm him down when he struggled. The familiar feel of his dog's affection did help to calm the delirious man slightly. Civilians and shinobi alike turned to look at the slow group, probably because of the presence of the Hokage. A few made offers of help, but upon realising that more people crowding around the stretcher would cause more harm than good, they decided to aid Hinata in clearing a path, some shinobi going further ahead to clear a short cut to the hospital through the debris for the heavily injured Inuzuka.<p>

The whole group sighed in relief when the hospital came into view. Trying not to quicken their pace in their hurry to get to their destination, the group continued moving forward, keeping a sharp eye on Kiba. As soon as they reached the entrance, medic-nin and nurses quickly caught onto the situation, and before Lady Tsunade could give any orders, they were already clearing a way through the other patients to the emergency ward and operating rooms in the main building. They all breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the end in sight.  
>In a true cliché, the home stretch was the most unlucky.<p>

Sakura's voice broke through the Sand sibling's relief, "He's stopped breathing!"

Kankuro felt like his heart had come to an abrupt halt. They rushed as quickly as they dared into an operating theatre, followed by numerous nurses and medic-nins, before everyone not medically trained got kicked out of the room by the Hokage with orders to rest. They caught one last glimpse of Kiba's oddly expressionless face before the door was shut lightly in their faces. Akamaru whined and scratched at the door for a minute, before lying on the ground in front of the door in defeat, resting his tired head on his paws.

Now, they could only wait.


	4. Chapter 3

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Waiting around and worrying would have been a waste of time. The three shinobi had all agreed on that fact after about twenty minutes waiting outside the operating room. They considered that the end of their break, and the tired trio left Akamaru in order to go out and continue helping the village; however, shifting and searching through debris, finding and taking care of the injured, and anything else they could think of, could do nothing to stem the worry that roiled through their minds. Kankuro heaved an exhausted sigh as he straightened up from where he had dropped the segment of wall he moved, his joints groaning and creaking as he stretched them out. Glancing up at the sky, he saw that darker shades were beginning to seep into the pale blue that had replaced the storm clouds. It had been hours now, since they had left the hospital in search of distraction. Every hour, he'd noticed more shinobi from Suna, as well as some who had arrived with the symbol of Kirigakure etched onto their headbands.

He came to the decision that with how worn out he was, he wouldn't be much help anymore. He was drained of both physical and mental energy, as well as chakra. His decision was made easier by the arrival of so many reinforcements from other villages. He vaguely wondered, as he began to saunter through the wreckage in the vague direction he remembered the makeshift canteen was in, if any of the other villages had sent anyone. The Raikage, he expected, would send some of his shinobi, particularly if his brother had any say in the matter. The Tsuchikage, though - that was anyone's guess, knowing his stubborn nature. He let his thoughts wander as he meandered through the ruins of the proud Leaf.

Kankuro was unsure of how much time had passed when his feet finally came to a stop. He lifted his head to get his bearings, wondering if he'd reached the food hall, but as he raised his eyes, he realised he'd come to a stop in front of the hospital. He had seemingly turned around somewhere and had been heading in the wrong direction from where he'd intended. The puppeteer shook his head tiredly and, heaving an exasperated sigh, turned around to head back in the direction he'd come from, but something stopped him. Facing back towards the large building, images flashed through his mind. Blood and dirt smeared across red triangles; bruises and swelling decorating what used to be the picture of arrogant youth and contentedness. The sand-nin frowned lightly, tilting his head down slightly as he came to a decision and began moving towards the bustle of the hospital.

The hospital seemed quieter than it had been. Kankuro could only hope this was because there were less injured to find and that those that were wounded had been successfully healed. Everyone moved at a less rushed and more lethargic pace, especially now that there were medics from other villages that were available to take over from the over-worked Konoha nurses. He could see some medics that had simply sat on the floor next to the wall of the tent who had just decided to sleep there, rather than spend more energy finding a real bed. Then again, maybe they just wanted to be close by in case they were needed. The Sand sibling walked quietly between the cots, trying not to disturb anyone, patient or otherwise. As he reached the entrance to the main hospital building, where he surmised they were keeping the more critical cases, he glanced around, looking for any sign of Akamaru. The nin-dog was no longer lying in front of the door he and the other members of Team 8 had left Kiba. He took a left down a long corridor, hoping he was heading in some semblance of the right direction. As he drew closer to the next corner, he began to hear angry voices carrying down the hall.

"They cannot be in here! This is a place of healing, not a petting zoo!" a stressed voice screeched, echoing down the corridor. Kankuro reached the corner, and peered round it. As soon as he saw what was round the turn, he knew he was in the right place.

"This is not conducive to his healing; he is still wounded terribly. I won't allow it!" A short nurse with sharp features was shouting at another woman on crutches - both legs wrapped in bandages - whose back was turned to the sand-nin, and was surrounded by at least eight huge dogs.

"I am going to ignore that insult to my clan and our nin-dogs, and inform you that I am perfectly capable of deciding what is best for my own son," the powerful voice of the woman replied, the tone practically oozing dominance. The strained look on the nurse's face made that fact even clearer, as she pulled her shoulders back, attempting to look more intimidating in the face of the Inuzuka clan leader and her pack despite her trembling limbs. Tsume's reputation preceded her. Her proud and intimidating stance, even in crutches, had clearly been passed on to her son - from what he remembered of the boy when he was conscious, anyway.

A flash of white caught Kankuro's eye, and he saw Akamaru, looking tired and distressed, standing by Tsume's left leg. Seeing the poor dog with his head down and his tail between his legs, his whimpering increasing the longer he was denied entry to his master's room, was agonising to witness. To see one of their youngest in such anguish was causing the other dogs in the hallway to become more unsettled and irate. Though Kankuro could admire the nurse's courage and her commitment to her job, he still thought she was in the wrong in this case. It was a widely known fact that the Inuzuka clan depended on their dogs, both in battle and not. Separating the pack, particularly Akamaru, from Kiba went against everything their clan believed. He'd seen himself, when they were transporting the young Inuzuka to the hospital, that Akamaru's presence had calmed him, even in his unconscious state. Clearly, at least that dog's company would be more help than hindrance in this case.

Movement in front of him broke him from his thoughts, as Akamaru tried to sneak past the nurse while she still argued with Tsume, but the poor dog was too big to be particularly inconspicuous in this case, and the nurse moved to quickly slam the door in the big hound's face, but Kankuro could see that ending badly with the already irritated pack and mother. Reaching quickly into his emergency chakra stores, he quickly caught the woman's hand with a string, immediately stopping her from closing the door. Akamaru quickly slipped into the room as the rest turned to face the tired Sand-nin.

"Are you quite done?" he asked, his voice threateningly calm. At that, Tsume's face began to screw up, as she prepared to unleash the rest of her anger on him. Kankuro quickly cut her off, turning to the stunned nurse, still trapped by his chakra, "Everyone's had a trying few days, but still, I would think a citizen of Konoha would know that keeping an Inuzuka from their dog is never going to end well, let alone keeping the pack from one of their own in the state he's in," he stated, nodding his head to Kiba's still open door.  
>Tsume's features immediately softened as she heard this, realising that Kankuro was siding with her, and looked to her side, finally realising that her son's companion was no longer there. She nodded in thanks to him, turning to enter Kiba's room, followed closely by the rest of the pack. The nurse was switching shocked looks between Kankuro and her hand that was still caught by chakra. After the last dog entered the hospital room, he released her hand, slouching his shoulders from the use of chakra he didn't really have to spare. Walking forward towards her, he softened his features in an attempt to calm her a bit. His face paint probably wasn't helping in this endeavour, as she still cringed away from him a bit.<br>When he came to a stop in front of her, he smiled softly, "I'm sorry if I scared you. I know you're only trying to do your job, but you know I'm right."  
>The small nurse huffed angrily, realising she was not in any danger, and began marching down the hall, "The Hokage will hear about this!"<p>

Shrugging, Kankuro turned to the room that was eerily quiet for how many dogs he knew had entered. He peered round the door frame, curiosity getting the better of him. The room was still filled with hounds, but they were all silent as they looked on in anguish at their injured family member. Tsume sat on a chair next to her son's bed, her crutches set up against the wall, clasping his clammy hand with her own and gazing at Kiba's face as his lips released stuttered breaths and his skin dripped with fever. Akamaru had climbed up onto the bed and was lying parallel to his master, his head leaning as lightly as possible on Kiba's right hip, not wanting to restrict his breathing any more by leaning on the young shinobi's heavily bandaged torso. Kankuro stood in the doorway, leaning quietly against the frame, unwilling to interrupt the peace in the room. Tsume glanced quickly at the door, along with the dogs that accompanied her, locking eyes with the painted sand-nin. She nodded slightly, without a word, before turning back to her silent vigil. He could see stubborn tears trying to escape the elder Inuzuka's eyes, but the stoic woman refused to let them fall as she quietly watched her injured son. Kiba's struggling breaths were the only sounds in the room for quite a while, and Kankuro found his chest constricting in something akin to pain as he observed the dog-nin's discomfort. Though he was looking a lot better than he had when they'd first dropped him off, it was clear that there was not enough chakra to go around for them to heal Kiba fully. Kankuro watched uncomfortably as the fever seemed to get worse, seeing Tsume take a cloth from a bowl of cool water from the side table to wipe at her son's brow.

Feeling that enough was enough, Kankuro turned to see if he could find a medic to help, when he came face to face with the Hokage herself, just managing to stumble back slightly before he ran into her. She glanced briefly at Kankuro, seeming to read his emotions in that instant, before he stepped aside, bowing his head slightly, to allow her entry to the room, followed quickly by Shizune. Tsume turned to the door again, and went to stand, leaning her hand on the bed as well as Kuromaru's back. Tsunade waved her hand slightly, silently telling her that she could stay seated.

"I've been resting since we finished his surgery," she said quietly, walking over to Kiba's bed to lay her hand on the dog-nin's heated forehead. She frowned lightly at this, "we couldn't heal him completely, as none of us had enough chakra. Luckily, since then many medics from Suna," she paused to nod in Kankuro's direction, "and Kirogakure have shown up to relieve us, somewhat," she moved Kiba's blanket down some to inspect the bandages on his torso. She motioned for Shizune to lift the boy into a sitting position, and continued talking as she began unravelling the bandages from him, "as such, I have a bit more chakra to spare now. Fortunately, we managed to find most of the injured on the first day. Unfortunately, that means the many of those we found today were beyond our help."

She paused in her speech as she inspected the sealed wound on Kiba's side, a pinched look on her face, as though trying to stop the devastating emotions of her last sentence from overcoming her. The wound looked a lot better than it had, but the half-healed mark was red and angry. Looking at both the front and back of the wound, she hummed before speaking again, "Kiba is one of the worst we've had in, mostly because of how long he went without treatment, and how little chakra anyone had left to heal him completely," she motioned for Shizune to lower him again, sighing, "Well, it's not his side that's causing the fever. The redness means the wound is healing nicely and I see no sign of infection, though it'll still leave one hell of a scar," she paused to move down the bed a bit, pulling the covers down with her, one of the ninken swiftly moving out of her way, "which means it's most likely the burns on his legs that are causing a problem."

There were sterile clothes wrapped loosely around his legs, reaching from just above his knees to just under the shorts he wore, provided by the hospital. Less severe burns could be seen on his lower legs, causing parts of his calves to be blistered and swollen, but as she removed the cloth, the damage on his thighs was prominent. It looked a lot better than it had when they had found him, Kankuro thought to himself, as all of the fabric that had stuck to him had been removed, but it was obvious how severe the burns were. Tsume's hand clenched onto Kiba's lightly, still trying to keep her emotions controlled.  
>"We surgically removed a lot of the dead skin caused by the burns on his thighs. Third degree burns are almost never easy, but these were particularly bad," she stated as she inspected both legs, and Tsume tensed at her words, "but luckily, I think these are healing quite nicely; there's some nerve damage that we can't do much about, but it's a lot better than it could have been. There's also a small infection on the right leg, which is causing the fever, but I'll deal with that just now while I'm rested." Tsunade laid her hands over the affected area, and a green glow appeared under them as she frowned lightly in concentration.<br>Shizune took over the narrative as the Hokage worked, "Though we may be able to heal a large amount of the injuries, he will scar – rather severely on his legs and side; but many see scars as part of the package with shinobi," she said, smiling lightly, "we just need to keep the area clean and make sure there are no complications. His arm was shattered in a couple places, but we healed that up pretty well in the first surgery, so I'll fix up the rest just now." She headed to the dog-nin's right arm and began her own healing.

The tension seemed to gradually leave everyone in the room as some colour slowly began to reappear on Kiba's face. Tsume closed her eyes briefly in relief, before replacing that relief with her usual wild, yet stoic, expression. As the strain left, the dogs around the room began to relax, some sitting, while others turned on the spot before lying down, their eyes still on their injured pack member and his mother. Much like the Inuzuka hounds, Kankuro's eyes remained on Kiba for some time, looking for unseen expressions on the young dog-nin's face from his position at the door, vaguely wondering if he could feel pain right now. Akamaru remained by his master, not even moving when the medics came to heal Kiba; not that they asked him, or any of the dogs, to move anyway.

Kankuro had zoned out for time, only to be shocked out of his daydreams by the Hokage placing a hand on his shoulder. He tried to focus his tired mind on the words she was saying, "I think it's time for you to get some sleep, Kankuro," she told him with a kind smile. The room suddenly echoed with the loud grumblings of his empty stomach, which he uselessly covered with his hands, a slightly embarrassed smile etched onto his tired features. Lady Tsunade's own smile turned to a smirk, "maybe you should think about getting something to eat first, though," she stated, her tone leaving no room for argument, "you've been working all day, and that was after travelling all the way from Suna to get here; you must be exhausted," she continued, an air of gratitude around her. Behind her, he could see Tsume looking in his direction with a small smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, her dogs also looking in his direction, expectantly. Shizune, in her place behind and to the right of the Hokage simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I can see I'm outnumbered here," he muttered, defeated. He turned to leave, stopping briefly to address the Inuzuka clan leader, "Do you want me to find Hinata and Shino and send them here?"  
>"I'm sure they'll find their own way here once they're rested, Kankuro," she replied, the hint of a smile growing into a full one, "thank you for the offer, but you just worry about yourself for now."<br>With a small nod and bow, he turned out into the hallway again, sauntering lethargically towards the entrance again, determined to actually make it to the mess hall this time.

After getting food, he'd spotted his teammates sitting on some debris near the makeshift food court eating their own dinner. They agreed that they should set up a small camp near the edge of the village, as there was a limited number of cots available, and they unanimously decided that the many homeless citizens of Konoha needed those warm beds more than them. They could see many of the other foreign shinobi had come to the same decision when they got nearer to the outskirts of the destroyed village, seeing many small encampments set up near the walls.

Hours later, and the Sand sibling was still awake. It was well past midnight, Kankuro could hear the light breathing of his comrades nearby. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He'd been tossing and turning since he'd laid down, but no matter how tired he was, something was keeping him awake. Sighing in exasperation, he sat up in his sleeping bag, climbing out of the warmth and standing up as quietly as possible, glancing around to make sure he hadn't woken anyone. Deciding that taking a short walk would maybe tire him out enough that he'd get some sleep, he began meandering through the camps and the debris, keeping his steps as quiet as possible so as not to wake anyone up. The camps started to thin out the closer he got to the centre of the village. He couldn't help but think about how eerie the village was; the ravaged buildings coupled with the deafening silence left conflicting feelings of anger and sadness seeping through to his bones.

Drifting into daydreams again, he wandered aimlessly through the village again, trying to momentarily keep his mind away from the destruction that surrounded him. An indeterminable time later, his feet came to a stop. His eyes widened in confusion when he looked up, realising that for the second time in less than twelve hours, his 'aimless wandering' had led him directly to the hospital. Shrugging it off as a coincidence, he decided he might as well go check on a certain Inuzuka while he was here, unable to sleep. Entering the temporary ward almost silently, he glanced around at the seemingly endless sea of beds under the marquee. Other than the odd nurse weaving through the beds checking on patients, plus those sitting at the sides of the tent chatting quietly to each other or reading, there was no movement - other than the occasional shifting of patients as they slept. He sent a small wave to the chatting medics, who smiled tiredly in response, before he made his way towards the main building. He stopped in front of Kiba's door, which was now closed, quietly turning the handle and opening it a fraction to peer inside.

Tsume was gone, as were most of the pack. The only one left, other than Kiba himself, was Akamaru. The loyal dog was still lying parallel to his master on the bed, his head now up and turned in the direction of the door, sniffing in his direction. Kankuro opened the door more, allowing himself to slip into the room almost silently. He could see the giant dog's tail wagging slightly at the sight of him, trying not to disturb his master. The sand-nin made his way over to the bed, scratching the dog lightly behind an ear. Akamaru tilted his head in response, licking Kankuro's arm affectionately before delicately setting his head down on his master's lower stomach. Sighing exhaustedly, Kankuro took a seat in the chair that Tsume had occupied earlier, turning his gaze to the young Inuzuka. He looked a lot better than he had earlier. His fever had clearly dissipated, and his expression looked peaceful as he slept.  
>Yawning quietly, Kankuro's leaned back in the chair, his energy absolutely drained. Each time he blinked, it felt like his eyes were closed for longer. Despite the insistence to himself that he would head back to his camp to sleep, the peace in the room became too much to resist, and the next time he blinked, his eyes remained closed as he finally drifted off.<p> 


	5. Chapter 4

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The first thing he became aware of was more than one presence close by. His eyes patiently remained closed as his body and mind adjusted to consciousness again. He could sense no malice coming from those he could sense in his surroundings; in fact, as his hearing eased back into focus, over the background noise filtering in from outside, he could hear at least two sets of slow, steady breathing, indicating they were asleep. He could feel a thin mattress below him, accompanied by the stiff sheets that seemed to trap most of his body, along with the heavy weight of something big, yet soft, along his right leg and hip.

Taking this moment of peace, Kiba tried to force himself to remember what happened before his mind blacked out, hoping to organise his thoughts into some semblance of order in his drowsy brain. Flashes of memories bombarded him; explosions, fire and terrified screams. Glimpses of civilians, or what was left of some of them, set ablaze by the seemingly never ending barrage of eruptions. He recalled trying to aid those escaping the buildings before a feeling of foreboding slammed into both his mind and body. He had turned around slowly, facing the shrouded figure that had appeared behind him. His memories seem to blur into sensations, rather than images, from that moment. He could almost feel the impacts his fists had made on his opponent, before a hand to his chest easily pushed him backwards with the force of a landslide, but he had managed to remain standing. Right after that, his memory just crashed into a haze of sound, weightlessness and pain. He flinched even trying to remember the moment.

The small movement triggered the object to his right to shift slightly, its breathing patterns shifting into awareness and the unobtrusive weight on his right hip was removed. He twitched his fingers, attempting to regain some of the blood flow that would hopefully reverse the slight numbness. The small motion was followed quickly by something wet snuffling into his hand before licking it slightly. Next to his foot he could feel a small movement of something moving back and forth. He smiled, shifting his hand to feel the head of his loyal companion and scratch him weakly behind his ears. An intense swell of release washed over him as he realised Akamaru was safe. Tears welled behind his closed lids, being released down his tattooed cheeks when he split his eyelids open slowly. Even though the room wasn't bright, the curtains shut, dulled daylight seeping through the fabric and around the edges, and the light was off, he still winced slightly at the change from anything darkness. When his eyes had adjusted, he shifted them to look at his dog, feeling the need to confirm that he was here and alright with as many senses as possible.  
>Akamaru looked as relieved as he did, his tail beating back and forth faster than it had before, his ears perked up as far as they could, as he saw his master's eyes open. He started shuffling gently up the bed, closing in on his master's face before licking it mercilessly. With a snort of laughter, Kiba raised his arms slowly, their weakness apparent in this movement, particularly in his right arm, to wrap them around his dog's neck. He nuzzled his nose into the soft fur on his dog's neck, taking a deep breath and relishing in the familiarity of the smell of home.<p>

His relief at seeing his companion safe made him forget the other presence he'd sensed in the room, but the commotion on the bed caused whoever it was to shift in their sleep, alerting Kiba to their presence. He turned his head to the left, facing a figure curled uncomfortably in an armchair near his bed. It wasn't anyone he would have expected it to be. He studied the face of the unknown shinobi, feeling like he recognised it from somewhere. His eyes wandered over the man's clothes; loose and black, the clothes covered almost all of the shinobi's body. The way his spiky brown hair was sitting slightly flat suggested that there was usually something covering his head as well. He rested his gaze on the man's face again, internally berating himself that he should know the man. A sliver of silver caught his attention, and his eyes focussed below the familiar stranger's head, where a hitai-ate rested on his collarbone, tied around his neck – presumably for sleeping. The symbol for Sunagakure was indented into the metal of the headband. Immediately, Kiba's eyes shot back to the slumbering shinobi's face, noting the tiny smudges of leftover paint near the man's jawline.

"Kankuro?" he whispered to himself. He couldn't help but wonder what the puppet-nin was doing there, sleeping in his hospital room in a chair that was clearly not made for sleeping. The slumbering nin shifted again in his sleep, his head tilting back against the back of the chair. That position had his mouth open a bit, causing a large snore to disrupt the peace of the room. Kiba sniggered quietly, not wanting to wake the man; he must be tired to be able to sleep in that chair. He decided that speculating on why the sand-nin was there was pointless. So he turned his attention back to his adoring dog, leaving his questions for when both of them were conscious.

* * *

><p>It wasn't more than an hour later that Kankuro woke. Kiba was resting his eyes, his hand stroking Akamaru's head gently as the dog relaxed at his side when he heard a more defined shifting of the body to his left; bones popped, followed by a mild groan of pain. His mouth twitching with a smile, the dog-nin opened his eyes, tilting his head to the left to watch the poor sand-nin stretching out his cramped body. Kankuro's eyes were scrunched up as he straightened out his limbs back into a proper seated position before stretching his arms over his head, his back arching in the process. The sand-nin's shirt rode up slightly as he did; the lightly tanned skin, stretched over defined abdominal muscles, contrasted the black of his clothes, catching the attention of the dog-nin. Kiba quickly diverted his gaze back to the puppet master's face, which had settled into a more neutral expression now that his bones had stopped creaking with discomfort. His eyes cracked open, staring into space as he slouched in the chair.<br>Kiba smiled again, before finally speaking up, "That's what you get for sleeping in stupid places," he said with a hoarse voice, causing Kankuro to jump before he turned to face the bedridden dog-nin.  
>"You're awake?" he asked redundantly.<br>"No, I'm fast asleep, Kankuro," Kiba replied dryly, rolling his eyes with a smirk.  
>Kankuro leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on his thighs as he assessed the dog-nin. He looked like he was trying to decide what to say, but he eventually seemed to settle on the obvious, "How are you feeling?"<br>Kiba paused, trying to evaluate how he was feeling; he hadn't really thought about it since he'd woken up. He felt tired, but not in the way that required sleep. His body just felt so heavy and his muscles so weak. He recalled the stiffness in his arms when he had hugged Akamaru, particularly in his right arm.  
>He told Kankuro this, and watched as the sand-nin nodded, a sympathetic look on his face as he recounted where Kiba had been found and what condition he had been in.<p>

"You were the one that found me?" Kiba found himself asking.  
>"Well, it wasn't just me," the sand-nin replied, rubbing at the nape of his neck, "It was mostly Akamaru, actually," the large dog lifted his head at the sound of his name, and Kiba started scratching behind his ears again, "He didn't stop dragging Hinata around looking for you for the whole three days you were missing.<p>

"I got involved by accident, really," he continued, "I bumped into Akamaru being chased around by Hinata, looking for you. Shino showed up about five minutes later, and then we heard Akamaru howling because he'd finally caught a scent through the rain. He never gave up on you." Kankuro leaned further forward on his chair so he could reach over Kiba and scratched the dogs head lightly.

'_Well, that explains why Kankuro's here_' Kiba thought to himself, '_sort of._'

"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" he finally asked the sand-nin.  
>Kankuro looked up at that, confusion clear in his eyes, "Well, my brother sent a lot of shinobi to help out here."<br>"No," Kiba replied, humoured exasperation leaking into his voice, "I meant what you are doing _here_? In my room."  
>The sand-nin hesitated almost unnoticeably, shifting slightly in his seat, "That was actually sort of accidental as well," he started with a small chuckle, though Kiba noticed a light shade of pink creeping up his ears, "I was camping with my teammates, but couldn't sleep for some reason. I thought I'd clear my head by going for a walk," he paused for a moment, but the dog-nin raised his eyebrows, a silent command for him to continue.<br>"I wasn't really paying much attention to where I was going, and when I finally stopped daydreaming, I was in front of the hospital," Kankuro said, in a somewhat rushed fashion.  
>"So, you decided to check on me?" Kiba finished for him, a small smirk directed at the decidedly flushed shinobi.<br>The flustered sand sibling glanced away, feigning disinterest despite his darkening colour spreading from his ears to his cheeks, before quietly mumbling, "Well, I had nothing better to do, mutt."  
>Kiba's smirk grew at the insult, finding the sand-nin's denial amusingly endearing.<p>

Before he could call him out on it, Akamaru lifted his head to face the door that subsequently opened quietly to reveal the solemn, downturned face of his mother stepping into the room. Akamaru let out a small yip in her direction, causing her to glance up at the bed, only to finally notice her son sitting up and awake. Shock transformed into a smile that seemed to light up the whole room before she rushed over to sit on the bedside and embrace her son as gently as she allowed herself in her excitement, tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh, my boy," she sobbed into his shoulder, relieved grin still present on her tear-streaked face. Kiba smiled, holding back tears of his own at Tsume Inuzuka's out of character reaction, lifting his stiff arms to wrap them around his mother's trembling form. She pulled her face from his shoulder, lifting her hands to cup her son's face, gazing at him with a watery smile, "My Kiba."

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><p>When the excitement was over, Kiba looked to the chair at his bedside only to find it empty. A small frown marred his features when he realised that Kankuro was no longer in the room. Neither he nor his mother had realised when the sand-nin had slipped out of the room during their moment; not that his mother even noticed he had been there in the first place. Tsume, finished clearing her face of all tears, turned to notice her son's expression.<br>"What are you looking so depressed for, boy?"  
>Kiba rolled his eyes, exasperation clearing any traces of 'depression' from his face at his mother's attempt to clear any evidence of the two minutes of emotional weakness she had allowed herself.<br>"I'm not depressed," he stated sharply, "More confused. Kankuro was just here, but he must have left after you came in." He glanced slyly in his mother's direction to see her reaction to knowledge of a witness.  
>Her eyes narrowed slightly, "Kankuro was here?" she said, her voice sharp, "Why didn't you tell me that before I started blubbering like a child in front of him?!"<br>"Well, you didn't exactly give me a chance before you started falling all over yourself, mother," Kiba replied with an irritated edge to his voice.

Before his mother could comment on his supposed insolence, the door opened again to reveal Lady Tsunade, followed closely by Shizune. Tsume straightened up, bowing slightly before the Hokage.  
>"So," Tsunade began, drifting over to Kiba's bedside, "a little birdy told me you were awake. How are you feeling, Kiba?"<br>'_So, that's where he went,_' Kiba thought to himself, though a little disappointed that Kankuro hadn't come back.  
>He took another quick assessment of himself, "Overall I feel okay, Lady Hokage, if a little stiff and weak in places," he started, uncertainly. He began systematically tensing muscles all over his body to test them, wincing slightly when he got to his thigh muscles, "My legs hurt quite a bit, though."<br>"Yes, they would," she murmured in reply, before speaking louder again, "Your thighs were very badly burned, and though they are healed, they will still be badly scarred.  
>"The pain is probably from the new scar tissue. It'll go after you've walked around a bit, worn it in, somewhat." She continued, providing a full inventory of his injuries.<br>As Kiba processed the information, the situation finally began to dawn on him. He knew that shinobi from Sand had been sent in to provide aid, but he realised he hadn't actually asked what happened, or how bad it was. He had known it was bad where he had been, but he didn't know if the attack had been more widespread. Still ignoring the Hokage, he glanced over at the window. Someone, most likely Shizune, had opened the curtains, but from his position, all he could see was a dreary grey sky. Trying to stretch his body slightly to his right to get a glimpse, but the move had obviously pulled at the scar of another new injury. He hissed, settling back down against his pillows.

"If you had been listening to a word I said, Kiba Inuzuka," the Hokage stated, laying a firm hand on the young man's shoulder, "then you would have known not to do that."  
>He glanced up at her apologetically, "Sorry, Lady Tsunade, I just wanted to see how bad it is."<br>"It's bad, Kiba," she responded, despair creeping onto her features.  
>"Bad? Like Pein's attack? Worse?" his voice was going hoarse again.<br>"Different, in terms of damage, but extremely extensive" she told him, solemnly, "and definitely worse in terms of casualties."  
>Kiba stilled for a moment. Recalling the day of Pein's attack on Konoha was agonising, but the fact that always made it better was knowing that Naruto had essentially convinced Pein to bring everyone back from the dead. There was no Pein with a powerful jutsu to revive everyone this time.<br>He took a deep breath, holding back tears as he pictured the busy streets of Konoha that he had been walking through just moments before the attack.  
>"How many?" he managed to croak out.<br>The Hokage paused for a moment, holding back the despair in her voice as she replied, "We don't have an exact number yet, as we still have critically injured and we're also still searching for others."

He closed his eyes as he took in the information, his breath shuddering in his throat as he tried to control his grief. People always spoke of broken hearts with terms of pain; this feeling was worse than mere pain. This was anguish, excruciating torture and numbness bundled together in a chaotic mess throughout his body. He didn't know how to process the emotions he was feeling, and it sent his mind and body reeling in confusion. His breathing quickened, stuttering on every inhale.  
>He vaguely heard the Hokage say something to his mother before hearing the door open, then close a moment later. He felt the air shift next to him as his mother presumably sat in the chair previously occupied by Kankuro before he felt a hand grasp his own, squeezing it tightly. Only then did he let himself release the full extent of his agony.<p>

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><p><strong>Hi,<strong>

**I'm not really one for writing author's notes, but I felt I had to this time if just to thank everyone who's favourited and followed this story, as well as those of you who left the lovely reviews. I had this chapter half written, but with work and life, etc, I kind of left it hanging a bit, but as soon as I saw those reviews I just had to finish it. So, this one's for you guys.  
>So, we've had a lot of Kankuro in the first few chapters, so I figured I'd let you guys have a little insight into Kiba. Keep in mind that this is a fair number of years after the Fourth Shinobi War, so our boys have grown up a bit and are both in their early 20s, so they're not going to be quite as immature as they have been in the past. Kiba's calmed down a bit, obviously, but he's quite a bit more calm in this chapter than I intend him to be later in the story - he did just wake up from being basically comatose for a few days. So, have no fear.<strong>

**I never realised how long Word documents make your chapters feel. I'm like, "Wow, that's quite a number of pages!" then I paste it onto here, and it just feels too short -.-' so, if you see my chapters getting longer, that's why :P I'm actively trying to make them longer. Personally, I love long stories and long chapters, so that's how I'm going to try to do things, but it'll take me some time to get on a roll.**

**On another note, in case anyone wants to know, I got the title of the story from the song Close Your Eyes by Young Love. I've loved it for about 8 years. Go listen to it, if you haven't. It's lovely. :)**

**So, hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 4! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.**


	6. Chapter 5

Recovery was a long and arduous process, both for the injured and the village as a whole. The death toll was over a hundred and forty, but there were still a small number of citizens missing. Though a grim thought, most couldn't help but marvel at how few had actually died, considering the extensive damage to the village. The good news was that there were no more expected deaths from the injured – they were all past the critical stages of their recovery. Clearing the debris was time-consuming, particularly with so many injured unable to help.

Kiba scowled in the direction of the hospital entrance from his seat at his sister's bedside, where she was still restricted to bedrest for a major concussion. It had been four days since he had woken, and he still wasn't allowed to leave the hospital. He got about an hour of walking each day, but still had to be assisted and accompanied by someone. Today he was allowed to walk himself to see Hana, with the help of Akamaru as a crutch, and was being escorted by Shino, who was sitting a short distance away eating his lunch.  
>"What's that pout for, little brother?" Hana queried, smirking a little as she saw his eye twitch at the teasing.<br>"I'm not pouting," he replied through gritted teeth, before he let out a resigned sigh, "I just feel so useless. I want to be _doing_ something, but instead I'm sitting here crippled. Can't even walk to the bathroom in my room without Akamaru to lean on."  
>At the sound of his name, Akamaru lifted his head to look at his master, cocking his head to the side in question. Kiba saw this and bent to scratch behind the dog's ears, reassuring him that he was grateful for the help.<br>At his words, Hana looked frustrated as she replied to her brother, "You're not a cripple, little brother, how many times do we need to tell you that?" her exasperation showed on her face, but her tone was gentle as she reached up to place her hand on his tense shoulder, "Me and mum feel the same way as you, as does everyone who's stuck in this hospital, I'm sure, but we're not going to be any use until we're healed. Have patience, pup, you'll be up and about in no time. We all will."

Kiba sighed as his sister finished speaking, raising his hand to place it on his sister's with a pained smile, his gaze still fixed on the daylight that shone through the hospital entrance. He could see people, citizens and shinobi alike, making their way back and forth in front of the doorway, some carrying large loads of salvaged goods. He saw others pulling carts of debris, taking it where it could be evaluated for its usefulness in rebuilding. He wanted to be out there. Despite understanding his sister and mother's insistence that he would be soon, he wanted to be out there _now_.  
>He heard someone clearing their throat behind him, turning to see Shino standing from his chair.<br>"I need to get back to work," he muttered from behind his collar, "and you need to be getting back anyway."  
>Hana turned her hand, which still rested on Kiba's shoulder, so it held on to his own hand at an awkward angle. The action had him finally turning his eyes to look at his sister as she said, "Don't worry, brother," she emphasised, "you <em>will<em> get out there."  
>He nodded with a small smile that looked more like a grimace, as he placed his right hand on Akamaru's back and Shino took a light hold on his left forearm to help lift himself slowly to his feet. He gently took his arm back from Shino, using it to pat the bug-nin on the shoulder lightly before beginning to limp forward with a small wave in his sister's direction. The pain kept him slow, as the scar tissue stretched and tightened with every movement, on both his legs and side. Shino kept a short distance from him in case he fell or needed more support, but the dog-nin was determined to walk through the pain, so he kept just short of 'hovering' distance. The quiet shinobi marvelled at his friend's unwavering stubbornness as he watched him limping ahead of him, subtly pulling the hospital shorts further down his thighs self-consciously where they had ridden up from sitting. Though Kiba wouldn't admit it out loud, he was incredibly ill at ease with the burn scars. Shino himself had only seen them briefly when helping his friend from his bed, but he noticed whenever the shorts rode up, even slightly, the dog-nin would hasten to pull them down again, even if the damaged flesh wasn't visible.<br>He shook his head slightly, hoping that Kiba simply needed to get used to the scarred tissue being there. After slow progress, they finally reached the room, where the dog-nin proceeded to clamber his way onto the bed himself, lightly batting away Shino's hand when he tried to help. He was followed quickly by his nin-dog. Once his friend was settled, Shino made his way to the door, turning slightly to raise his hand to his friend in a small wave. Kiba gave a pained smile in return, half-heartedly lifting his hand in return. Once the door was shut behind his friend, the smile, however small, slipped from Kiba's face as he rolled onto his side, burying his face in Akamaru's fur, unwilling to keep looking at the unchanging scenery of his room.

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><p>Kankuro placed his hands on his knees, panting loudly as his lungs exhaustedly tried to take in more air. He'd been helping other shinobi move the larger pieces of debris using both his chakra strings and puppets. He took a large breath, choking on it which caused him to cough uncontrollably for a minute. A strong pat on his back shocked him out of his fit, and he looked back to see Yamato standing to his left. The older shinobi had been using his earth release and mokuton to help with the larger debris. His breathing was also elevated, but not nearly as much as Kankuro's.<br>"I think you've done enough for today," the older man said kindly, "you've been at it non-stop since sunrise."  
>Kankuro scoffed lightly with a small smile, "So what? So have you."<br>"That's true," Yamato replied, smirking, "though, I also took a couple of breaks, and I'm also older than you and have more chakra reserves."  
>"You're right," Kankuro seemingly conceded with a small sigh, "you <em>are<em> older."  
>Yamato scowled, and began to ruffle the cheeky sand-nin's headwear when he heard a shuffling of feet coming in their direction. He glanced up to see Iruka-sensei, along with a few academy students, carrying trays of water in their direction. The rest of Kankuro and Yamato's group noticed, all stopping their work to have some water, smiling in gratitude and ruffling the youngsters' hair.<br>Iruka made his way over to the leftover pair with a small smile, "You guys are making progress, I see."  
>"Yeah," Kankuro replied, exhaustion clear in his voice, "it's hard going though."<br>Iruka chuckled, "I can see that," he sighed, glancing around the area, "it looks like it's going well, though. The students wanted to do something to help, and I had them come up with a few ideas, and this was one of them."  
>"Well, it's greatly appreciated, I can tell you that," Yamato replied, graciously, before his tone changed, "any news?"<br>Iruka's smile faded, "No," he replied grimly, "they should have been back two days ago. I mean, I know Kakashi's late for most things, but never when it's important."

The concern was clear on the teacher's face, so Yamato smiled slightly, placing a comforting hand on the distraught chuunin's shoulder, "He'll be fine, Iruka, they all will" he stated with certainty, "he's never let us down before."  
>The man smiled gratefully in response, "I suppose you're right. I shouldn't be thinking the worst when I don't know anything. They probably just got held up somewhere on the way back. Wouldn't be the first time."<br>Yamato chuckled slightly, nodding in agreement, before changing the subject, "Hey, are you guys heading back to the village centre?" he asked out of the blue. Kankuro had a feeling he knew what the question was for, and shot the mokuton user a hard glare.  
>"Yeah," Iruka replied, questioningly, noticing the dirty look Kankuro was giving Yamato, "you guys were the furthest group, so we're heading back now. Why?"<br>"Well," Yamato started, ignoring the daggers being glared into the side of his head, "Kankuro here has earned the rest of the day off, so I'd appreciate it if you made sure he made it to the cafeteria to eat something without getting _side-tracked_ by any more hard labour on the way," he said pleasantly.  
>"I'm fine, old man!" Kankuro interjected heatedly, "it's not like it's that long until sundown, we'll have to stop soon anyway!"<br>"Maybe so, but you're almost out of chakra and you haven't had a break, let alone eaten something, since you got here at sunrise," Yamato replied calmly, before continuing with the creepiest face the sand-sibling had seen since his brother's homicidal phase, "and you keep calling me old, and I'll kick your ass into the next decade, then we'll see who's old."  
>Kankuro gulped audibly, while Iruka looked on in amusement.<br>"Sure," the teacher interrupted, the laughter apparent in his tone, "I'll make sure he gets something to eat. I think it's about time the kids got some dinner, anyway."  
>He turned to call to the children that were talking animatedly to the other shinobi. They ran over to their sensei immediately, waving dramatically at the others as they moved off, Iruka in the lead. Kankuro stood stubbornly, before Iruka-sensei turned his head slightly, meeting the sand-nin's eye. The authority in that look got Kankuro moving, however reluctantly, as he shuffled along behind the children and their teacher, griping away under his breath.<p>

* * *

><p>Kiba poked his head out of his room through the slightly ajar door. He glanced up and down the corridor, checking for any signs of movement. It wasn't too late, but the village had quietened down with the darkness, and he wanted to take the opportunity. He felt his recovery was too slow. In his mind, he'd surely recover quicker if he got more walking practice in? People kept telling him that he'd be up and about on his own in no time, but no one mentioned the amount of time it'd take to get his shinobi training back up to scratch. He'd brought it up before, but he just got passive remarks on how he'd 'be fine'. It didn't inspire much confidence on how long he would be off missions.<p>

He felt a nip on his wrist, and turned back into the room where Akamaru was gazing at him with a mixture of concern and disapproval in his eyes.  
>Kiba sighed at the look, "I know, Akamaru, okay, but I'm never going to get better if I don't get more walking in," he told the dog, the frustration clear in his voice as he glanced back out into the corridor, ignoring his friend's exasperated groan, "one measly hour a day isn't doing me any good."<br>Seeing that no one was around to stop him, he edged the door open more, standing in the doorway, supported on the doorjamb. He turned back to his dog, jerking his head so he would move into position. Reluctantly, the nin-dog did so, coming to his master's side so the man could swap the support of the door frame for his usual furry crutch.  
>Inching out into the hallway, Kiba kept his eyes and ears open for the sounds of anyone approaching. Continuing to hear nothing, he quietly closed the door behind him, heading in the direction of a nearby fire exit, which exited at the back of the building. He edged the handle of the door down, hearing a light click of the bolt, before slowly pushing it open. Another quick glance around and he was home free. Before leaving he locked the bolt open so he could get back in after his walk before beginning his slow hobble towards some nearby trees that hadn't been demolished. As he entered the wooded area, a light breeze rustled through the leaves; he took a moment to feel pride in his stealth, mentally patting himself on the back for not getting caught. His lack of attention to his surroundings had him trip on a tree root. Stumbling forward, he found he couldn't find his footing, and his hand had slipped away from Akamaru in his fall. He found the ground coming closer to his face, and screwed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact when he abruptly came to a stop. Cracking his eyes open, he took in his surroundings. He was at a fifty degree angle to the ground, and he could see Akamaru looking in his general direction, his head tilted to the side and tail wagging. That was when he felt the presence behind him, as well as the two hands that were gripped to his upper arms. He was then pulled upright, the hands keeping a tight hold on his now stiff form. He felt the presence move closer to him, stopping right beside his left ear, their chin brushing the fabric on his shoulder and something ruffling through his own chaotic hair. He could feel their breath warming the skin of his ear.<p>

"And where, exactly, do you think you're off to?"

* * *

><p>.<p>

**Dun, dun, dun. Who could it be?**

**I know, I know, it's been a wee while. Like, two weeks-ish. Sincere apologies to anyone (if anyone) who was waiting for an update.**

**I do have some reasons: It was my birthday last week, so I was celebrating/recovering all weekend, then I had work, and I got ill at work on Tuesday and have been off work with the flu since then, dying in bed.**

**That's not the main reason, though. Simply put, I didn't know what to write. If anyone remembers my first author's note, you may recall that I mentioned that I wasn't entirely sure where I was going with this story. I've never been a planner when it comes to stories and essays and such. Never have been, never will be, probably. I basically had the beginning (kind of) mapped out in my head, but after that, not much.  
>So, this is all just off the top of my head from now on, pretty much. Hopefully this way of writing won't take from the story in any way. I have been writing it down in a Word document, and I go back and check my facts, etc, quite a lot to avoid continuity errors. If you notice anything I've missed, let me know, especially this week. My head is just mush.<br>Which is also why this chapter is rather short, after I stated in the last one that I was going to try and make them longer. Boo me.**

**I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, as I feel I've missed a lot of description, but when I tried to go through it to find places to squeeze it in, it never really worked in my head, so I left it. Ah well, maybe next time. (Y)**


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